Smart electricity grids: Optimised for maximum efficiency

Electricity
grids of the future are literally talking to themselves. Thanks to
state-of-the-art information technology, all components of these grids are able
to "report" their current status; including energy usage, power outages and the
available amount of electricity from various sources. Components can also
receive feedback from other parts of the grid, creating an interactive network
capable of optimising its own energy efficiency.

Energy
efficiency is currently a hot topic in politics and across several
industries. One of the European Union's ambitious climate and energy targets
for the year 2020 includes raising energy efficiency in all EU member states by
20%. Additionally, the EU wants 20% of all electricity to be supplied from
renewable energy sources.

This
is where smart electricity grids are making a world of difference.

Installation of the world's
first large-scale smart electricity grid began in the year 2000 in Italy:
During the Telegestore Project, electric utility company
Enel S.p.A. equipped about 27 million private households with digital
electricity metres that collect detailed information on electricity usage.
Since 2005, the smart grid has saved over €500 million in energy costs each
year.

How do smart grids work?

Conventional
electricity grids are unable to provide feedback to a utility company's control centre, leaving them dependent on
human supervision by a staff of technicians.

A
"smart" electricity grid, however, provides a constant stream of data from
digitally-enhanced components such as electricity metres in private households
as well as feedback from relay stations, power plants and alternative energy
sources. Each of these devices features its own IP-Address, a unique digital signature for
transmitting data.

This
IP-Address enables state-of-the-art measuring units, called smart metres, to send
real-time information on energy usage in private households. They determine,
for example, how much electricity is used at what time of day and the peak
times when power plants need to provide the most energy; and they determine if alternative
energy sources are available on a local level and calculate their power output.

According to German digital
communications provider Telekom, digital electricity metres in private
households can decrease energy usage up to 15% by identifying "electricity
leaks" and adjusting power supply flexibly according to current demand.

Nipping power outages in the bud

Daily
operations of an electricity grid rest on a delicate balance between power
generation and power consumption. In cases where this delicate equilibrium is
upset, large-scale power outages can render entire sections of the grid
inoperable for days. In July 2012, the power grid in Northern and Eastern India broke down due to an overload; it was the
largest power outage in recorded history, affecting over 600 million people.

The
system created by Korba and Larsson relies on GPS-equipped energy metres placed
strategically in key locations on the electricity grid. These metres detect potentially
debilitating oscillations in electrical current and send constant updates to
the utility company's control centre via satellite, allowing for crucial
adjustments in grid capacity in a matter of seconds.

Integrating renewable energies

The
potential for flexible - and quick - adjustments is especially crucial when it
comes to integrating renewable energy sources into the grid. Alternative energy
generation is a vital growth market with more than 378,800 employees in Germany alone.

Unlike
the constant flow of electricity generated in nuclear or coal power plants, the
output of wind turbines or solar cells can fluctuate wildly depending on current
weather conditions. "These are energy sources you just cannot control - yet you
have to maintain the stability of the power grid," said Petr Korba.

On
days with generous amounts of sunlight and wind, solar and wind energy accounts
for up to half of the total electricity supply in Germany. In these cases, smart
electricity grids can dynamically reduce the share of conventional energy
sources in favour of alternative power. When the weather changes, the energy
mix can be adjusted automatically once again.

The market: Intelligent grids, smart investments

It
will take investments of up to €200 billion until the year 2020 to prepare
electricity grids across Europe for the
future, estimates EU Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger. According to
the International Energy Agency, between €35 and €55 billion will be invested
in smart grids around the world every year until 2020.

From
a market perspective, intelligent power grids are bridging the gap between
electrical engineering and the field of Information and Communications
Technology (ICT). According to German ICT market leader, Telekom, smart
electricity metres could be installed in about 40 million households connected
to its communications network. A pilot project featuring smart grid
technologies is currently underway in the town of Friedrichshafen.

A
finalist for the European Inventor Award in 2010, the
technology affords transmission rates of up to 200 megabytes per second (Mbps)
through electric lines and is already used in Europe, Japan and the US.

Equipped
with this technology, intelligent power grids could become entirely
self-sustainable information networks - an idea that has researchers "amped up"
about the future.

It
will take investments of up to €200 billion until the year 2020 to prepare
electricity grids across Europe for the
future, estimates EU Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger. According to
the International Energy Agency, between €35 and €55 billion will be invested
in smart grids around the world every year until 2020.